Family Conflict in Empire (2015 TV Series) Essay

In the film Empire, Lucious Lyon and Cookie Lyon were a lively couple before the establishment of Empire Entertainment. Together, they engaged in drug trafficking that boosted Lucious' music profession. They were wedded and had three sons, Hakeem, Jamal, and Andre. Cookie helped Lucious in his occupation particularly in discovering the appropriate music sound as they raised their sons. In their entire relationship, they experienced family conflicts and other problems relating to their drug dealings evident in their communications. For instance, Lucious' condemnation of Jamoul act of expression when she wore a female attire and Cookie coming to defend this act (Daniels & Strong, 2015). Meanwhile, as the movie unfolds, Cookie meets issues with the ruling after the homicide of by then-unrecognized FBI agent. She had assisted Lucious in establishing Empire Entertainment with her savings from the drug business approximately four hundred thousand dollars. However, when drug dealings went viral, she was captured, faced drug charges, and condemned to imprisonment for seventeen years. Throughout her captivity, she declined to admit an offer which would make her betray Lucious. Nonetheless, Lucious started avoiding her which ultimately ended with a divorce while Cookie was still in prison. Furthermore, this is the primary context surrounding their conflict which makes Cookie after serving her jail term to return home in attempts to recover what belonged to her.

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Throughout season one, the couple lives in a love-hate relationship. When Cookie returned from prison, she does everything to get half of Empire Entertainment shares. This is evident when she said, "I want five million dollars per year and be made the CEO of this company since I hustled all this money" (Daniels & Strong, 2015). Cookie is made the head of A&R through voting by the organization's shareholders. Nevertheless, Lucious declined this post when he stated that, "I began selling drugs since nine back in Philadelphia, and you know what? I did it only for myself. However, the music which ran in my damn head sustained me alive when I thought I would be shot dead. You understand now? Music saved me" (Daniels & Strong, 2015). This statement is an insult which furthers their conflict since it is clear that at the start of the film, they hustled the money together and established Empire Entertainment. Additionally, through symbolic interaction theory, the audience can understand that both Lucious and Cookie behaviors were influenced by the harsh drug environment they were living. Such situations are often filled with conflicts and quarrels among others which makes this family abnormal hence they cannot solve their issues appropriately like normal families do, a contributing factor to their dispute.

Cookie attempts to participate in all Empire events and convections were often stunned by Lucious. This result continues their conflict which makes Cookie tell Lucious, "You cannot chump everyone around that you are genuine, but I am aware that you are a punk-ass gangster and gonna tell them that" (Daniels & Strong, 2015). This message fits in a family conflict since it acts as an outcome of their conflict of revealing. Cookie had kept Lucious' secrets in their entire drug dealings as well as in her seventy years imprisonment. Nevertheless, due to their current conflict, she is ready to expose them. Family communication theory provides the audience with comprehension of an essential factor termed conversation orientation to understand their conflict. Lucious family have less family orientation which is the key factor that limits what should deliberate. However, Cookie persists in acquiring what belonged to her extending their conflict further.

Empire season two comes with an intense conflict between Cookie and Lucious. With Lucious Lyon the proclaimed founder and head of Empire Entertainment serving his prison sentence for assassination allegations, Cookie stirs an inevitable struggle for Lucious' power which occurs in the boardroom. This is against Lucious. Their dramatic broadcast starts with Lucious informing Cookie that, "I never ceased having your affection, I have attempted though it never disappears." This conversation takes place when Cookie visits Lucious in prison. She asked him, "You really miss me?" (Daniels & Strong, 2015). Furthermore, Cookie's inquiry had no emotion ounce. Their conversation messages reveal not only the outer conflict they are experiencing but also the inner conflict within themselves. Their words fit in the family conflict since the audience are aware that Cookie is divorced and Lucious is already married to Anika, a second wife. Therefore, his statement is meant to hurt Cookie's feelings not to express his love for her.

Lucious as the head of the family and CEO of Empire Entertainment stands in a better position than Cookie in initiating a remedy for the conflict between them. One of the core communication strategy to solve the issues between them positively is understanding how to steer a message successfully. Furthermore, this comprises concentrating on one issue and evading individual attacks. Yoo and Park (2015), states that attaining a resolution encompasses talking about the real worries and knowing the root of the conflict. Lucious, in this case, should focus on the real issue that is Cookie wants her Company shares when she says that she wants five million yearly. He should not introduce other issues to try to avoid giving Cookie her share. For instance, he introduces another issue that he hustled the money alone since at the age of nine years. However, the audience is already aware that they earned money together to start the company before Cookies' trial and imprisonment (Daniels & Strong, 2015). Lucious should precisely state what he concerned about regarding the issue of giving Cookie her share of five million per year. For example, he should inform her that such amount of money is much and could make the company bankrupt. This would therefore lead them to search for new ways to solve the issue at hand and avoid making accusations which would escalate the existing conflict.

Active listening is another approach that Lucious should take to solve the conflict between them. This would enable him to understand the message Cookie is trying to pass and restate her feelings and thoughts as required. Lucious should understand the meaning of Cookie's message that he cannot chump everyone that he is genuine since she knows him as a gangster (Daniels & Strong, 2015). He should restate it and comprehend that Cookie wants him to be good too to her by offering what belongs to her. This would satisfy her feelings and thoughts as she intends. Lucious should additionally consider the kind of verbal messages he passes to Cookie before speaking to her. He should not use messages which would imply any negativity in their relationship, for instance, when he said that he tried to stop loving her, but it never disappeared. Rather he should use appealing messages, for example, he should say that he had never attempted to stop loving her. This would not hurt Cookie but show her that he still cares for her and hence would act as a conflict resolution since some people take the meaning of words and reacts according to the message they carry.

Conclusion

The conflict between Cookie and Lucious can be seen as a problem arising primarily from their communication problem. They both live in a love-hate relationship which makes Lucious fail to give Cookie her share as his former wife and mother of her sons. He also declines her post as head of A&R and claims that Empire Entertainment belongs to him. He additionally stuns all Cookie attempts to participate in the Empire's event and convections. On the other, had Cookie threats to expose him and struggle for Lucious' power after he is imprisoned. All these issues make the two parties articulate words that the audience through family conversation and symbolic interaction theories can understand their conflict and behaviors. Lucious has been seen to be in a better position to initiate the remedy to their conflict by understanding how to steer a message successfully, active listening, and using the appropriate verbal communication. Therefore, these strategies would resolve their conflict and save both their family and Empire Entertainment from failing.

References

Daniels, L., & Strong, D. (2015). Empire (2015 TV Series). Retrieved from http://toptvshows.co/empire-1-a

Yoo, M. S., & Park, H. R. (2015). Effects of casebased learning on communication skills, problemsolving ability, and learning motivation in nursing students. Nursing & health sciences, 17(2), 166-172.